The Phone Call
by Awesome Cheese Sandwich
Summary: Italy receives a strange phone call...


While leaving Romano to do the washing up, Veneziano went upstairs to sleep. He was feeling unusually tired and couldn't figure out why. He curled up on his bed, but not under the covers. Just then, his phone rang. The vibration in his pocket startled him to the extent that he immediately sat up. But the first thing that confused him was that the Caller ID said 'unknown'. He sighed and answered it.

"Ciao," Italy waited for a few seconds, but there was no answer from whoever was calling him, but wherever they were, he could tell there wasn't very good signal; there were a few crackles and pops, with a constant static in the background. "Hello?" A familiar voice said motionlessly. _That voice, I recognize it. It is... _Italy instantly shook after realising, he recognized the voice. _It couldn't be..._

"Erm," he asked, "who is this?" Even though he already knew the answer.

"It's me. The Holy Roman Empire." The familiar voice said, sounding slightly autonomous. Italy felt like fainting, although now he felt more awake than ever. "No," he said angrily, refusing to believe it, "Whoever this is, Romano? Germany? This isn't funny! Stop!" Again there was another silence for approximately five seconds. "Italy, i-it...is me. I am The Holy Roman Empire," the voice finally said

Italy felt tears reaching his eyes, one rolled down his right cheek. "But," Italy said desperately, "how-how are you talking to me? Where are you?"

"I-I don't...know. I have somehow regained...consciousness, after centuries of..." The Holy Roman Empire's voice cut out into static, it returned with him saying, "...I don't know where I am. I c-can only see...see darkness. My eyes, I don't think I have them any more. It's cold. I can't move."

"Do you have any idea where you are?" Italy asked in desperation.

"I don-'t know. But, I..want to know: how have you been sin-since...since I left you," the Holy Roman Empire's voice suddenly, became less monotone, and grew a lot deeper, "Italy."

As his voice grew deeper so suddenly, Italy felt a chill go down his spine. "I've," he trembled, "I've had ups and downs, but I...I waited for you. For so long."

Holy Roman Empire's voice was now a lot softer and calmer, "and what of Austria and Hungary? They were good to us. Are they still alive?"

"Yes," said Italy, "they are. They missed you too."

"You're such a...beautiful...girl. Ahh, s-sorry you're probably a woman right...now."

_That's right, _Italy thought, _he thinks I'm a girl._

"And what about your brother, Romano?" Holy Roman Empire asked, "were...you ever reunited wi-with him?"

"Yes," Italy smiled through the tears.

"I'm happy for you," Holy Roman Empire said sadly, "I'm happy you became such a prosperous nation...and that you didn't suffer the same fate that I did."

There was another silence that lasted a few seconds. Italy finally plucked up the courage to ask, "I want to know: are...are you, I mean, did you become Germany?"

"Who is this Germany you speak of?"

"He's a country I know, we're really good friends, and he looks just like you," Italy explained.

"It's possible," Holy Roman Empire's voice came crackling back to him, "we countries are only born when the concept of us is created by humans, we die with that concept. But if some weak remnant of my soul, the idea of my existence that keeps me alive, is out there somewhere..." His voice trailed off into static.

"Holy Rome?"

"I am nothing but a memory. But we are just a concept, a name, language and border that can die just as easily as they are created. Humans can kill just us as easily as they make us"

_Then perhaps through memory, you have been bought back to life, in some faint-weak form. _Italy thought.

"I'm fading away again," the Holy Roman Empire said quickly, "goodbye, I..."

"Wait!"

But it was too late, the caller was disconnected, and Italy's phone went silent. He sat on his bed for a few minutes, shaking and thinking about what had just happened.

_Did I really just talk to Holy Roman Empire? _His mind took him back to a memory of them playing together on a long summer day, but the sound of his phone vibrating cut through the flashback. Again, the Caller ID read 'unknown'. He gingerly pushed the 'answer' button, put the phone next to his ear and said, "Ciao."

Italy was interrupted by the Holy Roman Empire shouting, screaming at him in what seemed like both anger and pain, so loud Italy was surprised the phone wasn't on speaker. "HOW COULD YOU!" He screamed, "I WAITED FOR YOU! THEY CAME FOR ME! I LOST MY SENTIENCE! THEY MADE ME WATCH MY OWN BODY DECOMPOSE! THE MAGGOTS PICKED AT MY SKIN AS IT TURNED TO DUST! I FELT MY ORGANS ROT AWAY!" Italy listened to this, he shook uncontrollably, and burst into tears again. "THOSE EYES! WHY WOULDN'T THEY LEAVE ME ALONE? PRUSSIA, HE... I FADED AWAY AND BECAME A MEMORY. NOTHING MORE THAN SOMETHING STUDIED BY HISTORIANS! WE COULD HAVE BECOME MUCH GREATER THAN THAT! WHY DIDN'T YOU COME WITH ME? TOGETHER, WE COULD HAVE BEEN POWERFUL. WE COULD HAVE RULED THE WORLD TOGETHER!"

Italy couldn't believe what he was hearing, but what hit him most was when Holy Roman empire finally said, a lot more quieter and calmly, "They will come for you next. Your language will die, and your borders will be broken down, and your name will no longer be used. You will be dissolved, like so many of our kind."

Italy dropped his phone on the floor, the caller hung up.

Romano found him a few minutes later on his bed, curled up in a foetal position drenching the pillow in his tears and shivering. "Veneziano?" He shouted, rushing over to his brother, "what's wrong? Did that potato-bastard do something horrible to you?"

"No," Italy tried his best to talk, through all the tears, "It was him. It was the Holy Roman Empire. He spoke to me, on...on the phone. Pick it up! I need to call him again!

"Huh?" Romano picked Italy's phone off the floor and handed it to him. Italy searched through who had called him recently, but the Holy Roman Empire's call was not on the list.


End file.
